1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auction system. In particular, the present invention relates to an auction system in which a recording medium is attached to each auction item and auction participants can bid in an auction using mobile data devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Auctions in which an auction clerk allows a plurality of auction participants to submit a bid price for an auction item and sells the item to the highest bidder are popular. Furthermore, internet auctions have been developed in which an auction participant browses or searches for an auction item over the Internet. If the auction participant finds the desired item, the auction participant can place a bid on the item by setting a bid price and carrying out a predetermined operation.
A variety of technologies that increase the productivity of an auction have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-122629 describes a winning bid information storage system in which information about an auction item can be stored in a database immediately after an auction participant has won the auction item so as to increase the operating efficiency of the auction.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-228231 describes technology in which an auction participant can place bids on a plurality of auction items and, when the winner of a bid on one item is determined, the auction participant can set appropriate bid prices for the other auction items without the need for monitoring the bid status of the plurality of auction items.
However, in known internet auction systems, auction participants cannot view actual auction items, but can only view images of the auction items. Thus, some auction participants are reluctant to buy the auction items. Additionally, the above-described winning bid information storage system does not describe technology for executing an auction while managing intermediate steps of the bid (i.e., the bidding status), although information about a successful bid item of an auction can be immediately stored in a database.